The party of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele approved constitutional changes in the country's National Assembly on Thursday that will allow indefinite presidential reelection and extend presidential terms to six years.

Lawmaker Ana Figueroa from the New Ideas party had proposed the changes to five articles of the constitution. The proposal also included eliminating the second round of the election where the two top vote-getters from the first round face off.

New Ideas and its allies in the National Assembly quickly approved the proposals with the supermajority they hold. The vote passed with 57 in favor and three opposed.

Bukele overwhelmingly won reelection last year despite a constitutional ban, after Supreme Court justices selected by his party ruled in 2021 that it allowed reelection to a second five-year term.

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[–] 39 points 1 year ago (3 children)

It certainly seems like democracy as a political system is being replaced by authoritarianism worldwide.

I don't know if we can reverse the trend without some kind of disastrous world war that will inevitably result when world-altering decisions rest in the hands of just a few men.

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  • [–] 14 points 1 year ago

    In the case of El Salvador it was always meddled with by the US, as in many other countries in South and Middle America. The US would only let "deomcracy" run its course, if the outcome was favourable to the US administration and US businesses.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvadoran_Civil_War
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvadoran_presidential_election,_2004#Foreign_interference
    https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/04/la-cooperacion-represiva-entre-eeuu-y-el-salvador/

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago

    when world-altering decisions rest in the hands of just a few men.

    Welcome to... most of human history? I mean even now you have China and Russia among others as candidates for world-altering decision-making few men.

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